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Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - January 2010

Like an advance scout, this little snowdrop has sent up one shoot to see if it is safe to bloom and send for the other spring flowers. It’s January. It is not safe. January is cold and snowy and it will be several more weeks before even the earliest snowdrop actually blooms.

But the good thing about our cold and snow in January is that we expect it. We plan for it, we know how to deal with, and more importantly, our plants are ready for it. They “know” what to do to survive the freezing temperatures, and the snow, the ice, the sleet, the cold. It is the way it is supposed to be. I send condolences to gardeners in Texas and other southern states who experienced this kind of cold last week where it is not supposed to be that cold. They have all learned the hard way that no amount of covering will protect a plant from temperatures that dip into the teens (Fahrenheit).

Elsewhere in my garden, the snow from last Thursday is gradually melting as the temperatures finally got above freezing on Wednesday. After eleven days of literally freezing weather, it is a welcome change.

Inside, I have three amaryllis bulbs from last year that are in various stages of bloom and bud.

The one that is actually blooming is a variety called ‘Green Goddess’.

It was easy to get these amaryllis bulbs to rebloom. Sometime around September, I started to cut back on the watering, let the leaves die back and then cut them off. Then I let the plant rest until right after Christmas when I started watering them again. They are growing at different rates, so I should have an amaryllis of one kind or another in bloom for several weeks.

It’s accompanied by the blooms of the Jewel orchid, Ludisia discolor.
This orchid has faithfully flowered every January and is an easy orchid to grow, with handsome maroon-ish colored leaves with pink stripes. It would be great foliage to show for Foliage Follow up, hosted by Pam at Digging on the day after bloom day.

Elsewhere indoors, the hyacinths are “on vase”, the poinsettia from the holidays still looks very bright red, and the Crown of Thorns, Euphorbia sp, is blooming. But it always has a bloom or two.

What’s blooming in your garden on this fine January day? We would love to find out!

It’s easy to participate in Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Just post on your blog about what is blooming in your garden on the 15th of the month and then come back here to leave your link in the Mister Linky widget below along with a comment to entice us to come for a virtual visit.

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” – Elizabeth Lawrence

Seeing your post, I realize that once again I forgot to get an amaryllis going this winter.One has got to be crafty to find something colorful to show this month under all that white stuff out there.Thank you, Carol, for the monthly display.

Good for you, getting your amaryllis and orchids to rebloom, I tend to treat them like annuals! Can't wait to see those snowdrops, no such things around here! Enjoy some blooms from sunny California today!

Ah, dear sweet Carol...nothing here I'm afriad. We leave this house in less and 2 weeks and hence didn't plant bulbs etc. Our garden is a homage to all things sleeping and scraggly. Haven't got to the lottie in a while though I did see lots of bulbs a couple of weeks ago. Shame!! But I haven't any into plants at all.

How wonderful to see that mother nature hasn't forgotten about all of us this winter. While it will be weeks before my snowdrops start to emerge, seeing yours poking through the snowy ground brings that same tinge of excitement.

A beautiful amaryllis Carol. We are not used to the cold here especially after the last few mild winters. When we get more than an inch or two of snow the country grinds to a halt. I am just hoping that my flowers are snug underneath the white.

As a Southernen I appreciate your condolences. For whatever reason we managed to miss the worst of the snow, ice and temperatures, but it was still too cold. Thank you once again for hosting, and I hope winter eases for you soon, but not too soon, we don't want the plant's clocks messed up. Here is my post, where I stretched to rules again:

This is why I love the amaryllis, Carol; even though a lot of us had them in bloom for Christmas, many plants are just coming on, and others are holding on nicely, so a good many of us have something splendid to report on for this Bloom Day. I never get tired of them, ever.

There's still too much snow covering the ground in my Connecticut gardens for me to see whether the earliest of the bulbs have begun to poke up. I doubt they have, though, the ground is still very frozen. Seeing your snowdrops is sure a welcome site. Thanks for the spring peek!

Hi Carol, I look forward to seeing the Ludsia foliage, I like it even better than the flowers and it lasts much longer. Thanks for the secrets to happiness, too. Love listening to your tales. :-)Frances

I was HOPING to have some forced bulbs flowering today, but it looks like they're all going to bloom a day too late -- and probably be over before February's bloom day.But I do have paperwhites at home, and at work/school I have about a thousand petunias!Maybe if we have an early thaw, I'll have real, outdoor blooms for next month!

Carol, Thanks for hosting another blooms day. I lost all my amaryllis during their outdoor summer vacation one sluggy summer a few years ago and haven't had any since. Must rectify! 'Green Goddess' looks like she lives up to her name. And that's a new orchid for me. Happy January!

Carol, I have to admit to cheating a little for this GBBD. But I would hope that a little creative interpretation of the meme might be allowed in the middle of winter! Your amaryllis is a beauty - I've never done quite the right thing to get a decent rebloom. (And you say it's easy. hmmph.)

It's January, and everything is frozen ... nothing in the garden to share for GBBD this month. :( I have summer rose photos to show for my Friday Flowers feature, tho, to get us in the mood for spring.... Connie

Carol, I think you're going to see quite a few amaryllis blooms on posts this month, mine included! I have none of the usual blooming suspects this time, not even the flowering quince yet. Strange to think we had almost as much freezing weather as you have this month!

After boasting last month that we hardly loose any days gardening to snow and cold, Surrey & most of the uk has had 4 weeks of deep snow and freezing conditions, I have nothing to photograph today, there may be some bulbs, but they are under the snow- even my amaryllis bulb is staying stubbornly shut, - hope it turns out like yours.

Thanks for the condolences to us Texas and Southern gardeners, regarding the recent unexpected freezes. I've always been intimidated by orchids, but I may be tempted to try the jewel orchid--so delicate and pretty.

Your blooms are gorgeous, Carol. I wish I could grow indoor plants, but I fear they would end up as Kitty Salad. I wasn't sure of the protocol for Bloom Day, but I did do a post yesterday (a day early) because I was home from work, and had some blooms in the garden.

I see you like the Ludsia orchid and I agree that it has the most wonderful foliage too. So far I can't see any snowdrop foliage. I'm hoping that the thaw over the next few days might reveal those but I was still able to enter GBBD this month!

Hi Carol, pretty orchid. I have an amaryllis to show along with some things in bud which may open for February's Bloom Day. Temperatures in the single digits mess up the garden a bit, but it also discourages a lot of too-early bloom which is good. Thanks again for hosting.~~Dee

I am so happy to finally make it to Bloom Day! OF course I am the last one to post. BUT I hope you will stop by and see my V-blog from a VERY GREEN GREENHOUSE where I am sharing the Watering - The Furry Friends who enjoy the green, and all the wonderful BLOOMS in Garden zone 5!

I LOVE HOW YOU HAVE GREEN POPPING through the snow. THERE IS HOPE... spring is on its way!

We still have snow on the ground here in Virginia (both central and northern VA) from our big December snowstorm. Even though today is near 60F, the last few weeks of cold weather have discouraged the early flowers, so I have NO blooms for this GBBD :-(

But there are buds, bugs, birds, and blue sky. I even found some still-usable carrots in the garden this afternoon. :-)

I'm cheating horribly this bloomday, I hope everyone will forgive me for having a little fun with the subject. Happy bloomday to everyone...thank you Carol for hosting again. Spring is only weeks away!!!!!!

There is NOTHING here in the garden! The amaryllis in the house are finished, ditto the cyclamen. Only thing left is the big white/green cymbidium, but I think I posted her last year, so I decided to go to the beach in Australia.

Like Ms. Wis. said, I can't believe you've got anything trying to peek through the snow, either. We've got several inches of snow cover right now, and I'm pretty sure nobody's going to attempt to push their way through it any time soon!

I was looking forward to my amaryllis reblooming this Christmas, but it's showing no signs. It's put on several set of leaves, but no new buds. That's OK though, I will just come here and admire yours!

Well, if weren't for orchids and snowdrops there wouldn't have been much for me to report today. However, we shall take joy in that which we have and not covet that which nature is holding just beyond our reach right now.

Interesting how Amaryllis have a way of determining there own cycle, which rarely matches the Christmas holidays.

Lovely amaryllis blooms and photos Carol. I appreciate your tips too... I am always late in slowing down the water... mine still have green but soon I will put them in bags and into a cold dark cabinet. They will bloom again (hopefully) by March! Even though we know what to expect sometimes it is hard to take these long dark and cold winters... well the sunrises keep me going... and blogging too. Thanks for hosting this bloom day! Another Carol ;>)

I totally over looked my Amaryllis that had open today so I did another BLoom Day Entry in the evening. I hope you will stop by and take a look. THANK YOU for heading up this event! http://momingarden.blogspot.com/2010/01/over-looked-bloom-day.html

Like you, Carol, my two blooms are indoors this month. Cheers to you for reblooming your amaryllis! In Australia they are called hippeastrum and it's wonderful to see them growing right in people's gardens.Thank you for hosting the fun of Bloom Day!

What a beautiful Amaryllis, Carol- love that color! Mine refused to open, so nothing is blooming indoors. I managed to photograph a few outside flowers and put them into a new music video for my Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Post - it's still the 15th here...guess Philo and I got the YouTube up just in time! Hope you like it.

Hi Carol! I'm sitting here in Times Square posting this as Mom and I are enjoying our first trip to New York, about which I'll blog after we get home. However, I wanted to share a very special bloom I saw today - not in my own garden, but in Central Park in New York City, where I spent some time today.

Why do people schedule meetings for Bloom Day nights? How inconsiderate!It always seems to be an ultra busy day for me. My snowdrops are buried beneath the snow. I hope you told your brave little scout to lay low for a while.The Green Goddess is gorgeous! I still have my Amaryllis plants to look forward to. Just got them planted last week.I love your pretty little orchid.Happy Bloom Day, Carol!

Hi Carol, this is my first time participating in the GBBD. I would like to join in the fun too. I hope you don't mind me being late. Thank you very much for hosting this wonderful meme. Happy GBBD to everyone!

I agree completely about the plants knowing what to expect. Here in the UK they’ve had very much lower temps than they are used to. Time will tell as to how they have coped. The rain is now washing the snow away to reveal our gardens again.

Have a great weekend! Now… I must get outside later to see how many scouts are out and about ;-)

I must admit I've never been organised enough to remember the 15th of every month but this looks like fun so will try and get it in the diary for February! Very little happening in the garden here in France following all our snow but bulbs all on their way! Happy New Year for 2010 - Miranda

In September, I came across my first Bloom Day post and loved the idea. For years (before computers ...) I tried to keep track of what was blooming, but words never interested me as much as photographs. Now, if anyone is interested they can look and see what's blooming in CT, but for me this is a wonderful way to remember and organize.